Governor pushes new Florida gun sale limits

FloridaGovernor Rick Scott, a loyal ally of the US gun lobby under mountingpressure to act in the aftermath of last week’s deadly mass shooting,urged state lawmakers on Friday to tighten access to firearms for youngpeople and the mentally disturbed.Scott said he would work with theRepublican-controlled legislature over the next two weeks to raise theminimum legal age for buying any gun in Florida from 18 to 21, with someexceptions for younger individuals serving in the military or lawenforcement.That proposal put the Republican governor at odds withthe National Rifle Association (NRA), which has opposed higher agelimits in Florida, where a person must be at least 21 to buy a handgunbut can be as young as 18 to purchase an assault rifle.But Scott,who has been endorsed by the NRA and received its highest rating forsupporting the rights of gun owners, said he opposed an outright ban onassault rifles, as some gun control advocates have demanded.He alsobacked adoption of a law, like those enacted in a handful of otherstates, allowing police and family members to obtain restraining ordersto bar people suspected of posing a threat of violence from possessingguns.Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, who is leading theinvestigation of the February 14 shooting rampage at Marjory StonemanDouglas High School, welcomed Scott’s plan as a “strong first step ingiving us the proactive ability to keep Florida safer.”But criticsof the plan, which closely mirrored proposed measures unveiled on Fridayby leaders of the state legislature, said it failed to go far enough.“Heis doing the bare minimum,” said US Senator Bill Nelson, a FloridaDemocrat widely expected to face a re-election challenge this year fromScott.Julie Kessel, president of the League of Women Voters of Florida, called Scott’s proposals “very small, incremental changes.”The17 people slain in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Parkland were shotwith a semiautomatic AR-15-style assault weapon, which authorities saywas purchased legally last year by the accused gunman, Nikolas Cruz,when he was 18 years of age.Cruz, now 19, a former Stoneman Douglasstudent who authorities said had a history of run-ins with the law andwas expelled from school for disciplinary problems, has been chargedwith 17 counts of premeditated murder.In addition to age limits,Scott said he wanted to change state laws to make it “virtuallyimpossible for anyone who has mental issues to use a gun,” echoingsimilar calls by US President Donald Trump.The governor called inparticular for a new program allowing a family member, police officer orcommunity welfare expert to seek a special court order barring thepurchase or possession of a firearm by anyone shown to pose a safetythreat due to mental illness or violent behavior.Scott also urgedamending state law so that anyone involuntarily hospitalized asdangerously mentally ill be stripped of all access to firearms, with acourt hearing required before their gun rights could be restored.OnCapitol Hill on Friday, a group of 18 House Republicans urged HouseSpeaker Paul Ryan to schedule a vote on legislation strengtheningbackground checks.The legislation already passed the House in December.But it was coupled with a controversial measure aimed at significantly expanding permits for carrying concealed weapons.Thegroup of House Republicans urged Ryan to bring it to the House floor asa stand-alone bill so that it will have a greater chance of approval bythe Senate and enactment into law.Scott also called for posting lawenforcement officers in every public school and for mandatory “activeshooter training” for students and faculty.He spoke as staff members were returning to Stoneman Douglas for the first time since the massacre.“Everything was quiet, and looked like it was frozen in time,” social studies teacher Greg Pittman said.Outside the school, some teachers gazed at flowers and makeshift memorials.One woman who brought balloons to add to the displays fell to her knees in tears.Classes are due to resume on Wednesday, but the building where most of the bloodshed occurred will remain closed.Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump criticised the armed sheriff’s deputy assigned to the school for doing a “poor job.” Thedeputy, Scot Peterson, resigned after an internal investigation foundhe failed to go inside and confront the shooter, the Broward sheriffsaid on Thursday.